Human Universe Hardcover – Illustrated, March 17, 2015

I loved this book, had a great ton of particles and atoms and molecular science and I can list things all day. This was a great book

I bought my husband tickets to see Brian Cox, but I wanted something to wrap them in so I wasn’t just handing him some pieces of paper. I quickly got on Amazon and picked out a book written by Brian Cox. I didn’t even read the reviews. I saw that it was one we didn’t have and immediately purchased it. I also didn’t look at it in depth when it arrived because I was trying to be sneaky. It didn’t really need to be good since it was just a vehicle for his real present. After my husband stopped hugging me and waving the tickets in the air, he started reading the book. He asked me if I’d read any of it. I told him I’d only looked at the photos. He said it’s an amazing book. Score two points for two awesome presents! It really does look like a very good book, and maybe I’ll get to read it someday. If he ever stops carrying it around everywhere.

Human Universe by Professor Brian Cox“Human Universe" is a very good complementary book to the BBC documentary series of the same name. Professor Brian Cox takes the reader on an uplifting journey of the big questions that has taken humanity from ape-man to space-man. This entertaining 256-page book is broken out by the following five sections: 1. Where are We?, 2. Are We Alone?, 3. Who are We?, 4. Why are We Here?, and 5. What is Our Future?Positives:1. Innate ability to make science accessible and fun for the masses.2. An excellent topic, answering big philosophical questions based on the best of our current knowledge. “This book asks questions about our origins, our destiny, and our place in the universe.”3. Cox is a gifted author and educator; his books are fun and educational. His passion for science and love of humanity is exuded throughout the book.4. Great use of charts and illustrations to assist the reader.5. Excellent, easy-to-follow format. Each section begins with a big philosophical question followed up by bite-size supporting topics.6. As you would expect, the book is full of interesting factoids. “The Sun is one star amongst 400 billion in the Milky Way Galaxy, itself just one galaxy amongst 350 billion in the observable universe.”7. The impact of the grand theory of General Relativity. “Many physicists regard General Relativity as the most beautiful piece of physics yet devised by the human mind.”8. Great examples where science clashed with religion, handled with the utmost respect and care. “Catholic dogma asserted that the Moon and the other heavenly bodies were perfect, unblemished spheres. Previous astronomers who had viewed the Moon, either with the naked eye or through telescopes, had drawn a two-dimensional blotchy surface, but Galileo saw the patterns of light and dark differently. His training in chiaroscuro revealed to him an alien lunar landscape of mountain ranges and craters.”9. The beauty of science at work, evidence for the Big Bang Theory. “It is sufficient to say that the discovery that the universe is still glowing at a temperature of 2.7 degrees above absolute zero was the final evidence that convinced even the most sceptical scientists that the Big Bang theory was the most compelling model for the evolution of the universe.”10. The science method applied. “It is scientific only to say what is more likely and what less likely, and not to be proving all the time the possible and impossible.”11. A fascinating discussion on the possibility of extraterrestrial civilizations. The Drake equation. “If there are any civilisations making a serious attempt to contact us with technology at least as advanced as our own within a thousand light years, the Allen Array will hear them.”12. The recipe for life discussed. A look at alien worlds and what’s considered the habitable zone.13. A brief history of life on Earth. “We are mammals, which first appeared 225 million years ago in the Triassic era.”14. A look at space exploration.15. Human evolution. “It is believed that around 7 or 8 million years ago we split from the chimpanzees and the process of evolution into bipedal Homo sapiens began as these monkeys started to spend more time on the ground than in the trees.”16. A brief explanation on how the laws of nature allow for human beings to exist. “The Standard Model of particle physics is a theory that explains the interactions between subatomic particles in the form of the strong, weak and electromagnetic forces.” “General Relativity and the Standard Model are the rules of the game. They contain all our knowledge of the way that nature behaves at the most fundamental level.”17. An amusing look at the snowflake.18. Was the universe made for us? An excellent response worth repeating, “Our universe appears to be made for us. We live on a perfect planet, orbiting around a perfect star. This is of course content-free whimsy. The argument is backwards. We have to be a perfect fit for the planet because we evolved on it.”19. A great case for science. “Science and reason make the darkness visible. I worry that lack of investment in science and a retreat from reason may prevent us from seeing further, or delay our reaction to what we see, making a meaningful response impossible.”20. A picture section included.Negatives:1. Solid effort but not quite to the standards of previous outstanding books.2. The book is quite ambitious and loses focus.3. Let’s face it some topics even at its simplest (quantum mechanics) are a challenge to follow.4. No formal bibliography or book recommendations.In summary, this is an inspirational and fun book to read. Brian Cox is one of my favorite science personalities and his books reflect his warm, engaging personality. However, this is not his best effort. This book though very good does not live to the standards of some of his previous outstanding books like Wonders of the Universe. That aside, this is an excellent complementary piece to the documentary series of the same name and is worth your time. I recommend it.Further recommendations: “The Quantum Universe”, “Wonders of the Universe”, “Wonders of Life” by the same author, “Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution” by Neil deGrasse Tyson, “Faith vs. Fact” by Jerry A. Coyne, “The Vital Question” by Nick Lane, “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari, “The Big Questions” by New Scientist Collection, “To Explain the World” by Steven Weinberg, “The Universe” edited by John Brockman, “A Universe From Nothing” by Lawrence Krauss, “The Upright Thinkers” by Leonard Mlodinow, “The Neanderthals Rediscovered” by Papagianni and Morse, and the Grand Design by Stephen Hawking.

If you want to know your place in the infinite universe and feel significant in the vastness, read this book. When most science books lose the aspect of being human in the pursuit of knowledge, this one embraces it, and it is beautiful.

I've read and number of books on cosmology, trying to understand and grasp where we started, how "it" all began. This was one of the best, I understand inflation theory much better than before as well as the concept of multiple universes. But Cox also does, in my opinion, a masterful job of weaving the relevance to humanity. After all, what gives meaning to a stars twinkle is our observation. There are a couple of places where I can disagree. I think we can all agree that there is "climate change." But the climate has always changed, how much is the result of man's burning of fossil fuels and other actions, is, I believe, up for debate. I want to leave the world better and cleaner than I found it, but I do not want to embark on government imposed laws and refulations that choke the economy based on faulty data or assumptions. He also argues for massive government programs such as the Apollo program. The libertarian in me believes that few goverment programs create more than they destroy. But I would recommend this book to any who might be interested in cosmology and mankind 's place in the universe.

A great and refreshing reminder of why life is so precious ! A call to end pettiness and leave a legacy of progress in an ever improving world

Knowledge, well written and easy to understand.

Cox book is a conversation about cosmology and biology. It's not head-scratching reading but yet very informative and fun to read. I definitely recommend it

The review i read online said this book is an excellent book for teens who are interested in physics would enjoy this book. Well, let me just say that a teen would have trouble reading this book because the wording is so grammatically advanced that I had to look up a word, or a couple, on almost every page so far. It is written by a university professor, so it could be almost expected but I think the review I read wasn't accurate. Now, on the positive side, other than having to look up so many words via Google which really slows down the reading, the book is very interesting and I am enjoying it immensely. I gave it to my 11 year old to read because I thought it would interest him but the wording was too advanced so now I am reading it and putting all the difficult words in the margins so he can quickly reference those words. It's a lot of work; but I know he will now be able to comprehend better what he is reading. Hope this helps others that may be interested in this book for their teen.

This book must be included in the school syllabus, let our children know what exactly the universe, wornders of the solar system, just one example,Our galaxy Milky way consists 200 billion stars, there are billions of such galaxies in the observable universe... Who knows all these

What a wonderful explanation about our advance as human race across the history, I encourage to complement with the TV series as well.Una explicacion maravillosa sobre el evance de la humanidad a través de la historia, recomiendo complementarla con la serie de TV.

superbe!!!

What a fantastic journey this book presents!! Rich in detail, awesome in fact, it weaves a compelling tapestry of the sum of human knowledge right up to this point in time, explaining, in patient and easily readable prose what we know about how we have gotten to where we are. It offers penetrative insights of explanation that combine the known laws that govern everything in the universe and considers every angle, postulating different points of view and alternative explanations.There is a total lack of any hint of “authoritative ego” in this book, from a man who is clearly hugely informed, widely read and extremely intelligent. He is in total command of his field of study - and it shows. In fact, the book’s major premise is its genuine humiity and respect for the “brains that have gone before” and that helped, often in small ways, to unravel humanity’s journey. But the book also abounds with the sheer joy of life and what it is and what means to be who we are.The anecdotes and asides are superb, often funny and highly enjoyable, offering insights and homage to to discovery by serendipity - but that is the true heart of the science of discovery.His explanations are lucid, logical and rich in fact and detail. And his postulations are soundly based and evidentially conceived.The book is a TOTAL JOY to read and by far the finest book of its kind that I have ever read. So much detail, knowledge and information is packed into this easy to read book - it feels that you have discovered something really special when you read it and your knowledge of us and the universe has made its own quantum leap when you finish it.Read it do. Revel in it. Be prepared to be challenged by it, surprised by it and intelligently engaged by it and you too will have a fantastic trip through the history of humankind, the meaning of time, the wonder that is us and the pure marvel that is the universe.It doesn’t give you all the answers but, to my mind, no other book has ever come as close to doing that as this book does. Pure joy.Enjoy!! It’s absolutely brilliant!!